Welcome to the Piano World Piano ForumsOver 2 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

I am playing Bach Prelude in C major and its three pages long. I have never played anything more than two pages and I have no problem with three pages but at the moment when I get to the bottom of page two, my hands get tired. This piece is not meant to be played slowly and I am not used to faster playing for more than one page. Also turning pages and keeping the smooth speed going hard as I tend to slow down to flip the page.

I think 63 pages for the Rach 2 is the longest I have ever done. But at one point, I was halfway through Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, which I believe would be about double the Rach 2 (considering pagination, layout, etc).

_________________________
Every day we are afforded a new chance. The problem with life is not that you run out of chances. In the end, what you run out of are days.

What is a page though? Some pages have 20 measures, some have 30. My longest is Chopin's Raindrop Prelude (relative to time), Op 28 No 15. It was 3 pages, or just about 90 bars. However, the recital submission I just did (Ombre, Ludovico Einaudi) was 5 pages, but only 101 bars and significantly less time, about 2 minutes.

About 4 minutes, which is already a huge challenge to my concentration span... I wonder how on earth I could ever play a full sonata...even if I was technically able. I would probably need to get up and do a little dance between the movements...

EDIT: Actually if I count the repeated motions of the Scarlatti sonatas I can go up to almost 9 minutes

The piece I am currently trying to polish is nine pages long; about six minutes to play. It's not particularly dense, and patterned enough to be memorised easily.

David Lanz's Variations on Pachelbel's Canon in D counts 13 pages and will have to wait for my reading skills to pick up a bit more. And I can't even dream about playing that 60+ page monstrosity Derulux mentioned!

_________________________
David Lanz - Dark HorseYiruma - River Flows In You

Fantasie Impronptu has loads o` pages. I got through that years ago by memory albeit somewat simplified), I have tape of it somewhere; I dread to think of what I sounded like now. Many of the sections are repeated with annoying slight variations.

I corrected Chopin on this. Heh heh . .

_________________________
"I'm playing all the right notes � but not necessarily in the right order." Eric Morecambe

If you're referring to my post, that's exactly what I was compensating for. Beethoven's 9th (in the edition I have) is only 54 pages, but because there is no "piano redux" line--the whole thing is a piano redux of a symphony and not a piano concerto like the Rach 2--it clocks in at twice the length.

Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto clocks in around 30-32 minutes.Beethoven's 9th clocks in around an hour.

I didn't realize this was in the ABF when I first posted it. I thought this was the Pianist's Corner. Sometimes, I get confused late at night.

When I was a beginner, I would say the longest piece I played was Paul Lincke's "The Glowworm". Around 7 minutes.

_________________________
Every day we are afforded a new chance. The problem with life is not that you run out of chances. In the end, what you run out of are days.

If you're referring to my post, that's exactly what I was compensating for. Beethoven's 9th (in the edition I have) is only 54 pages, but because there is no "piano redux" line--the whole thing is a piano redux of a symphony and not a piano concerto like the Rache

I was just speaking in general terms, not necessarily specifically at anybody. I certainly wasn't trying to undermine your achievement. I was just pointing out that composition 'length' can be measured in several ways.

If you're referring to my post, that's exactly what I was compensating for. Beethoven's 9th (in the edition I have) is only 54 pages, but because there is no "piano redux" line--the whole thing is a piano redux of a symphony and not a piano concerto like the Rache

I was just speaking in general terms, not necessarily specifically at anybody. I certainly wasn't trying to undermine your achievement. I was just pointing out that composition 'length' can be measured in several ways.

No worries.. wasn't thinking that at all.

_________________________
Every day we are afforded a new chance. The problem with life is not that you run out of chances. In the end, what you run out of are days.

I have never played anything more than two pages and I have no problem with three pages but at the moment when I get to the bottom of page two, my hands get tired.

My brain always gets tired much sooner than my hands!

Quote:

This piece is not meant to be played slowly and I am not used to faster playing for more than one page.

That probably takes some working up to and getting use to.

Quote:

Also turning pages and keeping the smooth speed going hard as I tend to slow down to flip the page.

You could try copying the pages and spreading them all out across the music desk, so you won't have any page turns. I think I have done this with up to 7 pages. (But that was a stretch!) Other alternatives -- Find a good place in the music where you have a short break with one of the hands, and turn there. (This isn't always the way the music is typeset on the page.) Or memorize the piece!

I think 63 pages for the Rach 2 is the longest I have ever done. But at one point, I was halfway through Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, which I believe would be about double the Rach 2 (considering pagination, layout, etc).

I have no problem with three pages but at the moment when I get to the bottom of page two, my hands get tired. This piece is not meant to be played slowly and I am not used to faster playing for more than one page. Also turning pages and keeping the smooth speed going hard as I tend to slow down to flip the page.

If you are playing with tension in your hands or other parts of your body, you will tire quickly. If you are playing without tension, than the fatigue will gradually go away with practice.

As far as page turns, since it's a 3 page piece, why not photocopy the 3rd page and tape it onto the second? Then you've eliminated the page turn! The other solution is to memorize a few measures before and after the page turn so you can choose a convenient place to turn the page. You can also curl the lower corner of the page or attach a sticky note to the side of the page to make it easier to grasp when you turn.

(Last year I worked on a beast: Beethoven's Waldstein, Opus 53. It had 32 pages and I had it memorized. Took about 25 minutes.)

I am playing Bach Prelude in C major and its three pages long. I have never played anything more than two pages and I have no problem with three pages but at the moment when I get to the bottom of page two, my hands get tired. This piece is not meant to be played slowly and I am not used to faster playing for more than one page. Also turning pages and keeping the smooth speed going hard as I tend to slow down to flip the page.

One of my editions of this Prelude in C major is also 3 pages. I prefer the 3-page edition, as there's more white space, less of a cramped feel, and it's easier to annotate. I solve the '3-page problem' by taking a copy of each page and sticking them together (on the back) with some good stiff tape, to make a single item that will sit on the music stand. No page turning.

And the longest piece I've played? A ground by John Blow that comes in at around 4mins-odd, but felt like an eternity when playing the whole thing.

Mozart's K310 sonata. Just played it this evening for my aunt and grandfather, without repeats - took me about 15 minutes.

Love that sonata.. one of my favorites. Did you ever record it?

Nope, 'fraid not. That's not something I've been in the habit of doing, though my teacher keeps encouraging me to, and I know it's probably a good idea.

I love the sonata too. One of my favourite Mozart piano works for sure, and much darker than most of them.

Do me a favor? Record it and post it. I want to listen.

Any chance your name, "The Hound," has to do with Game of Thrones? (just a little OT--haha)

I'd like to, but I don't really have it at a level that I'd be comfortable sharing on here, really, with so many seriously good pianists. If I could iron it out so that it's 99% error-free, I wouldn't mind, but I've moved my focus to other pieces now. I think my teacher wanted me to play something very slightly above my level to push me, and make the Trinity Guildhall Grade 8 stuff I'm working on now (Fig Leaf Rag and Chopin's Valse de L'adieu) seem easier. Having said that, the syllabus also contains the Allegro from Beethoven's Op 10 no. 2, which doesn't really seem easier than the Mozart (and is far harder than the Chopin actually). Sure I'll come back to the K310 at some point, in any case. I want to play that Beethoven too, as it's another sonata I absolutely love.

Your guess about my user name's derivation is correct. I've been a fan of the Song of Ice and Fire books for some time, and more recently of course the excellent HBO adaptation. Sandor Clegane is a great character, and I'm also a big lover of dogs, so "The Hound" works quite well for me.